Is the property that was left behind after Close of Escrow mine?

All I've ever encountered is trash too... a few times a whole lot of trash.  I often write a special stipulation into  contracts: "property to be clean and free of personal property and debris prior to closing".  Then, a day-before walk-through to eyeball the condition/status.  I've gone to a closing before with an amendment charging the sellers $XXX to clean out "leftovers" that were to be removed, per contract.

Many times if they prior occupant was the owner, you would have do to an "ejectment" lawsuit to throw out their stuff.  Much more expensive than a tenant eviction.  Whenever a seller leaves behind extra "stuff" after a walk through, always get the title company to prepare a bill of sale conveying all that stuff.  That way the new buyer should be off the hook.

I have in the past contacted the listing Realtor about a refridgerator or washer and dryers left behind.  The next call I get from them is they decided to just leave it for the buyer, they are going to buy new for the new home.  Sometimes it can turn out well...say for first time young homebuyers who don't have these things but sometimes it is the new homebuyers putting an ad in craigslist

Utah contracts say that upon delivering possession to the new owner the property will be broom clean and free of debris and personal belongings. My buyers closed on a short sale house that had numerous items of personal property including furniture that may have belonged to the owner or to a recent tenant. The listing agent had a clause in the contract that removed the condition that the owner must clean the property out although to protect my buyers from any questions later on I insisted that the seller sign a document that said all remaining personal property was abandoned and the buyers had the right to dispose of as they see fit.

Sam - If I were asked that question, I'd have to say that falls under the category of "outside my area of expertise," and tell the clients to speak with their attorney.  I heard something on a tv show one time... "My name is Wes, and I ain't in that mess."  Seems kind of appropriate in this instance.

Great advice at the end and a really good way to handle it which covers you more than just making an assumption.

Interesting topic you brought up here.  I have had numerous properties that closed where the seller left lots of things from furniture to pool tables.  This has usually happened with short sales and when I speak to the seller they tell me to do whatever I want with it because they don't want it.  I have started having the language of what happens to personal items left in the property covered in the contract stating the items left hold no value and have been left for the convenience of the seller.

In Washington state, our "form 22D" has a clause we can check or not, that states that property left behind goes to the buyer.  It is good to have this means to clarify this question.

A local attorney had clients that didn't do the walkthrough.  After closing, they went to the house and found a dead body.  Now that's a leave behind!

Is that a reason NOT to buy a property in Arizona?

Love it....happens all the time.  Of course, almost always what is left has no value - but then one man's junk......

Hi Sam, we never had that happen, but appreciate the info!

Very interesting Sam. It's never been an issue for me, but, I'm going to follow up to see what the great state of Indiana has to say about it. I have always thought if it was there after close, it belonged to the new owners.

Interesting.  Only ever had junk to worry about.

You bring up an interesting topic, one I haven't really ever had to deal with. Now I'm curious what the procedure would be in CA. Thanks for the thought!

Sam, this is an interesting post.  If the Buyers had done a final walk through, they could have requested that the final items be removed from the property before closing.  Just saying-

I've always said the saying "possession is 9/10th of the law. If it's left behind, it's the buyer's now.

I once had a seller leave a bunch of stuff in the house and the buyer's agent called complaining. I asked what was left and she started naming off a lot of nice things. I said, "Have you heard of Craigslist? Your buyer could probably pocket over $1000 from the seller's stuff. Go sell it, it's theirs." They did and made over $2k.

We generally just put it in the garage for a while just in case they come back for it, if they dont come back by the next time we clean the garage the stuff is gone.

Well now I'll have to check my state laws too, as I just figured it was unwanted stuff.  Live and learn.

i had this happen. The seller was a realtor and decided he was not going to let us have the garage door remote after close of escrow because he wanted to get the items he had in the garage.  He said he was busy and didn't know when he was going to pick them up.  I spoke to my broker (in AZ) and was shocked to find out that the items in the garage still belonged to the seller. Of course he couldn't just keep the keys and show up at a future undetermined time to get his stuff because that would be trespassing.  We finally came to an understanding but it was my first close and I was completely blindsided.  From now on if the home is not empty I will put some verbage that what is in the house at COE stays (unless it's 10-50 gallo drums of oil but that's another story).